1. Field
Some example embodiments may relate to wearable robots that determine when to provide muscular strength assistance to assist standing-up motion. Some example embodiments may relate to control methods of wearable robots that determine when to provide muscular strength assistance to assist standing-up motion.
2. Description of Related Art
Wearable robots having various purposes, such as assistance to muscular strength during action of handicapped persons, the elderly, and the infirm, rehabilitation of patients with myopathy, assistance to solders equipped with military equipment, and assistance to laborers loaded, are being vigorously developed.
In general, wearable robots to assist muscular strength may include an upper extremity muscular strength assistance robot for behavior of upper extremities and a lower extremity muscular strength assistance robot for behavior of lower extremities. Among these wearable robots, the lower extremity muscular strength assistance robot denotes a robot serving to assist force of wearer's legs to assist walking using human-robot synchronization.
Such a lower extremity muscular strength assistance robot may be driven so as to sense a wearer's intention to walk and to assist corresponding muscular strength. Here, sensing of the wearer's intention to walk may mean sensing of a wearer's intention to start walk or to finish walk, or mean sensing of moving states of the left foot and the right foot.
The wearer's intention to start walking may correspond to a standing-up motion, wearer's intention to finish walking may correspond to a sitting-down motion. The standing-up motion and the sitting-down motion have an action mechanism different from a general walking motion, and thus an assistance strategy different from that applied to the general walking motion needs to be applied to the standing-up motion and the sitting-down motion.
Although some example embodiments will be described with relation to wearable robots for humans and control methods thereof, those skilled in the art will appreciate that some example embodiments may be applied to other types of robots, systems, and control methods, such as wearable robots for animals and control methods thereof, or more general purpose systems and control methods.